LED Trailer Lights

torrid

torrid

Just sailing
Has anybody done a refit on their trailer with LED lights?

I try to routinely check and maintain my trailer electrical system. I still wind up having to mess with burned out or broken bulbs. This weekend I had to do it in the rain.

I need to replace the whole assembly one side, and I figure I ought to swap the entire system with something brighter and more reliable.
 
The trick when you put on new incandescent lights is to remove the new bulbs, and spray the socket with CorrosionX when new. Install the wiring with marine shrink wraps at all connections, and screw your ground wire right to the trailer frame. Coat it afterwards.

You lights will last many years with this treatment, even with frequent saltwater dunkings.

General rules apply for LEDs also, you just don;t have bulb/socket combos.
 
torrid said:
Has anybody done a refit on their trailer with LED lights?

I try to routinely check and maintain my trailer electrical system. I still wind up having to mess with burned out or broken bulbs. This weekend I had to do it in the rain.

I need to replace the whole assembly one side, and I figure I ought to swap the entire system with something brighter and more reliable.
Click to expand...

I put the LED lights on my trailer and apart from the cost, I've been really happy with them.
 
Unplug your trailer electrical connection before launch/retreive.

The extreme temp diff between the bulb and the water cracks/breaks the lamp.

Now that we're done with the practical answer, get some LED's.. They *ROCK*, and have that zero turn on turn off illumination ramp time. Your turn signals are so much crisper (c:

( I plan LED's for my next upgrade )
 
I replaced my incandescent lights with sealed LED lights earlier this year. It is the best thing I have done. I bought the LED lights from an ebay dealer and got a great deal, so I would recommend that you put a watch on some ebay dealers and I thing you will be very pleased with the results. :D
 
203 said:
Unplug your trailer electrical connection before launch/retreive.

The extreme temp diff between the bulb and the water cracks/breaks the lamp.
)
Click to expand...

btw - I always launch with the lights on without an issue. But my lenses are intact and thusly the bulbs stay dry.
 
I like mine - I got the $60 kit from etrailer.com (though mine came with yellow side lights for that price and it looks like they don't come with those any more)
 
Just got them installed - really, really bright. Now when someone is tailgating me, I can just tap on the brakes. My new laser death rays will burn their retinas until they back off.
 
torrid said:
Has anybody done a refit on their trailer with LED lights?

I try to routinely check and maintain my trailer electrical system. I still wind up having to mess with burned out or broken bulbs. This weekend I had to do it in the rain.

I need to replace the whole assembly one side, and I figure I ought to swap the entire system with something brighter and more reliable.
Click to expand...


They had a set with a battery operated "try me" in the store and that caused me to immediately empty $50 from my wallet for my five boat trailer.

The trailex takes low profile lights and I have not seen a set of those for under $70. besides, the problem with the trailex design is the lights stick out and are regularly smashed ...by me... What I need is a light set with a rubberized flexible housing!!!
 
I have not found LED lights to be any significant improvement when they get imersed in water regularly. They leak and the individual lamps stop working one or two at a time. If the lights stay dry you don't have much trouble with either type.

The reason for unplugging your lights before immersion has to do with stray current corrosion from the 12V positive. It will quickly corrode any connections or metal that can directly carry current into the water. And of course salt water is much worse than fresh in that regard. At an ABYC electrical seminar I went to, they demonstrated hooking 12V to a bronze thru hull in a salt water tank. The thru hull completely disolved in about 20 minutes.
 
I have had LED's for my 3rd season now and I never immerse the trailer, I put 3-5,000 miles on my trailer every year. I have found them to go out one by one. Still definitely worth the money as I don't have to worry about them not working. I'd rather replace LED's every 5 years, then have to worry about the lights every weekend.

-Jon
 
Again - I have old incandescent lights that work fine despite periodic saltwater dunkings.
One set is 10 years old, the other is 6. Oh and another that is 5, but only started dunking it this year.

The trick is to remove the bulb, spray the contacts with corrosion block and reassemble. 1 time is fine.

As far as leaving the lights on? Make sure your connections are crimped or soldered and then covered with marine shrink tubing (Ancor or equiv).
 
The "only way to go" is to have your lights mounted in a manner where they don't get submerged, such as a removeable light board. I'll post pictures in a few days.
 
I have had incandescent lights on my boat trailers for 15 years, have never unplugged them at a ramp and have never had them break because of cold water submersion. Eventually one might burn out from use, but not cracking. The plugged-in dunking has also not caused a great deal of corrosion in fresh water because of the short amount of time the lights are actually in the water.
 
I'm interested to read that so many people submerge the lights. I have an old trailer (no name on it) on which the lights are at the very bottom. I don't submerge the lights or the wheels - I back down til the tires are just at the water's edge. Pushing the boat in is real easy, and I pull it back up with the wheels in the same position. Pulling up is a "little" harder, but not hardly a real exertion. I do this cuz it's not hard to do, and it obviously avoids getting water into bearings, lights, etc.

I'm kinda curious about why you all submerge the lights to launch. Presumably it's just to make it that lil bit easier to get the boat off + on?
 
Your trailer makes it easy; my (Trailex) trailer makes it all but impossible to push the boat off the trailer. I have to float it off.
 

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So it looks like you mounted a couple of old-style stock cunningham fittings to the board, and use a lag bolt to hold it in place on the rudder gudgeons?

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I like slick arrangements like that which mount/demount quickly. I bought a boat once from someone who said they had a "lightboard" for it. When I saw it, it was a messy contraption held in place with bungee cords and duct tape. Not very slick.

BTW, it's been three years and I haven't had to mess with my LED lights once. No more replacing light bults in a Wal-Mart parking lot in the rain.
 
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